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<title>Out of Time by hopeless_romantic_spoonie</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24674074">Out of Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeless_romantic_spoonie/pseuds/hopeless_romantic_spoonie'>hopeless_romantic_spoonie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Blood, Established Relationship, Goodbyes, POV Loki (Marvel), Poisoning, Reader-Insert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:14:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24674074</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeless_romantic_spoonie/pseuds/hopeless_romantic_spoonie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As Loki lay dying he makes one last phone call to you, pretending that it is just another ordinary day.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki (Marvel)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Out of Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Loki was meant to have more time.</p><p>Was that not the bittersweet draw of falling in love with a Midgardian? He was to spend the rest of your fleeting, mortal existence by your side, basking in the sunlight of your smile, and then when it faded beyond the horizon, he would follow you to the gates of Valhalla where you so rightfully belonged.</p><p>You had fought him for the entirety of your relationship on his worthiness to step into that hallowed hall. Between playful fights on your bed as you writhed beneath him, eyes gleaming with mischief and love, and passionate shouting matches that always ended in you falling into the soothing embrace of the other, insistent but gentle as you stroked his hair in your small and tender hand, you’d convinced him that he may have earned his place after all.</p><p>If only it would allow him to see you once again.</p><p>The dirt and rocks bit into his back as he shifted to survey the slash rending his skin in two. Sweat blurred his vision, but even he could see the inky black toxin dyeing his veins before it disappeared beneath his leather armor. The acrid amalgamation of metallic blood and pungent poison coated his tongue, a most heartwrenching death knell.</p><p>There wasn’t enough time.</p><p>A snap of his fingers called his phone into his trembling hand. The picture of you, smiling into the camera with the sun in your eyes, smudged with blood as he swiped his thumb to unlock it. The one object that he had loathed the most--if he wished to communicate with someone he would do so in person--was now his most precious possession.</p><p>Just one more stolen bit of time with you thanks to such primitive technology. <i>Please.</i></p><p>A deep breath, a cough that wracked his prone body, and then he held the phone to his ear. </p><p>
  <i>Norns, please answer.</i>
</p><p>“Hello- ah shit! Hold on one sec, Loki.”</p><p>There you were, his love. He listened to the running of water, your unintelligible muttering, and what sounded like food sizzling. Each second was an eternity that stretched far too long. He didn’t have enough time.</p><p>“Darling? Are you there?” His bloodshot eyes darted over the bodies of the dark elves he had slain, a gruesome sight to send him to the end of his days.</p><p>Your breath blew into the speaker just before you spoke, and his soul sighed in relief. “Sorry, Mischief. I burnt my hand on the pan again. Think you can help me out when you get home?”</p><p>Tears burned the backs of his eyes and he turned his face to the cloudless sky so that they rolled streaks down the dirt staining his sharply cut cheeks. He swallowed around the thickness in his throat. “Of course, my love. What are you making?”</p><p>“Your favorite.” The sound of you puttering around in the background, tending to the food, tossing a used spoon in the sink, was all so domestic and achingly familiar that he could so easily picture you there. It was one of his favorite sights, you comfortable and content in your home, turning even the most mundane activities into a glorious occasion just by your partaking in them.</p><p>His hands knew the softness of your skin beneath his “borrowed” t-shirt you wore as a nightshirt. His nose knew the scent of your hair, a combination of the both of you after he held you flush to his chest throughout the night. He knew the tilt of your head as you’d inspect the food you prepared. He could almost picture you now, face flushed from the heat of the stove as you beamed your happiness into the phone.</p><p>It was selfish, to not tell you of the true reason behind his call, but he did not want to hear your voice twisted in despair. He was not strong enough to withstand such pain.</p><p>“I forgot to grab some bread from the store,” you admitted with a frustrated sigh. You were always so adorable when you’d purse your lips at your own shortcomings. How he’d kiss any worries or anxieties from your delectable face. He should’ve done so more often. “Can you pick that up on the way home?”</p><p>“You and your forgetful mind. What would you do without me?” he jested hollowly, playing off the sob that forced its way past his throat as a quick laugh. He coughed again and pressed his hand over the wound on his chest. The searing agony grounded him, pulled him away from the darkness closing in on the edges of his vision.</p><p>He would take all the time he had for you.</p><p>“Good thing I’ll never have to find out.”</p><p>The surety of your voice, so sweet, so innocent, wrapped around his heart and squeezed. It had only begun to beat again when you’d skipped into his life, chasing away the shadows of his past with a bubbly laugh, sharp tongue, and warm embrace. How cruel was it that he was to lose his life after he had only just begun to live it?</p><p>He closed himself off to the sights around him; his eyelids were just too heavy. You stood there in his mind’s eye, swaying your hips back and forth to the faint tune he could hear behind the din of your cooking. An angel sent to guide him towards peace.</p><p>“Loki, I gotta g-”</p><p>“No!” he pleaded, his voice a high, frightened shout that tore at his parched throat. He eased the harshness of his words with a ragged sigh. “No, darling. I need to know if you need anything else, before you hang up.”</p><p>You hummed quietly in thought. Always with a delicate press of your lips together and a gentle furrow of your brow. “Just you. Are you coming home soon?”</p><p>Loki had promised to never lie to you, and he had always kept that promise throughout your relationship. He hoped that you’d forgive him for breaking that vow, just this once. “Yes. I cannot wait to be in your arms again, my love. I miss you so terribly.”</p><p>“If you miss me so much, come and get me,” you teased, and then your voice lowered with sincerity. “Miss you, too. I love you.”</p><p>The darkness began to overwhelm even the perfection of your smiling face in his thoughts. He could not fight it for the wash of ice gripping his trembling, ruined body. Not even the sickly heat of his blood trapped between pallid skin and sweat-slick leather could warm him now. A Frost Giant, and it would be the cold embrace of Death to take him from you. There was an irony there, but he was too weary to find it. All of his strength went into his hushed reply of, “I love you too, little one, more than all the stars in the sky.”</p><p>Never before had silence rang so loudly in his ears. He dragged his eyes open and turned his head to the side, staring at the lockscreen on his phone. Staring at you. Red was not your color, no, but nothing could ever detract from your beauty.</p><p>Not even his last, rattled breath.</p><p>Loki was finally out of time.</p>
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